Desire Is The Best Motivator Of All
Posted on April 27, 2007
Everyone knows that unless you’re motivated to do something, chances are slim to none that you’ll do it. People rarely do things without a reason, which is why motivation is so important. To motivate means to provide a reason or motive for doing something, but motivation can span a broad spectrum. Nearly every week someone approaches me asking what I can do to motivate them. Seldom, if ever do people ask what they can do to motivate themselves and therein lays the difference between ordinary people and extraordinary people.
I’m not a psychologist, but I’ve learned that motivation takes two forms; internal and external. The extremes of these are fear and desire. People do things out of fear that they would never do under normal circumstances. A robber sticks a gun in your face and orders you to give him your wallet. Fear of possible death motivates you to do so and do it quickly. The problem with external motivation is that it’s dependent on someone or something outside of you. You don’t control it.
Internal or self motivation in the form of desire creates as strong, if not stronger motivation. Just as fear causes people to do things they wouldn’t do under normal circumstances, intense desire leads people to do great things also. The biggest difference between these extremes is that external motivation doesn’t last. It fades rapidly as the situation that produces it subsides. On the other hand, strong desire produces achievements that build self esteem and causes one to reach for even greater accomplishments. Desire, not fear, is what propels people to great accomplishments.
So, how do you create intense desire? Have you ever wanted something so much that you made sacrifices in order to get it? Maybe it was a job promotion, a vacation, or something as simple as a date with that special someone. Think about what you did! Did you do something out of the ordinary to get it? Did you lay awake at night planning and plotting strategy? Did you try different approaches when one didn’t work? Maybe you took on a part time job. Did you seek help or advice from others? If you wanted something enough to do any of these things, chances are it was because you had a goal and your desire to reach it was pulling you toward it.
Desire is heightened by anticipation, not instant gratification. When you have to sacrifice and wait weeks or months to get something you really want it produces a tremendous feeling of accomplishment. Reaching one goal gives you the confidence to set the next one even higher. On the other hand, short circuiting the process with instant gratification can have just the opposite affect. For example, let’s assume you really want a new car. When you save for months or even years so you can pay cash for it, each deposit that brings you closer to the day when you can make the purchase builds excitement and increases desire. The feeling of accomplishment is overwhelming when you finally go to the dealership, pick out your dream car and write a check to pay for it.
Now let’s compare this feeling of accomplishment with what so many people experience when they short circuit the process and go in debt in order to have instant gratification. Their wants overwhelm them so they head to a dealership; sign their name to a contract obligating them to make payments for years into the future just so they can get the car now. Within months, the new smell disappears; it probably picks up a few dents and dings, but the payments keep coming. By the time it is paid off they are sick of writing checks every month, or else they have traded up and rolled the remainder of the debt into a new loan and started all over again. Even if they pay off the loan, by the time the last payment is made, the car is close to being worn out. That’s depressing! Can you see how this “I want it now mentality” can ultimately kill desire?
When people ask how I get motivated, I tell them all the same thing, “I set goals that are meaningful to me.” There’s a big difference between goals and wishes. Goals get accomplished! Wishes breed excuses! In my book Weekend Millionaire Mindset, I tell about how I learned about intense desire as an eight year old child. My best friend’s parents bought him a bicycle and I wanted one like it, but my parents couldn’t afford it. I describe the things I did while my friends were playing and goofing off that enabled me to get that bicycle and the joy I felt when I rode it home. That early experience taught me how intense desire could motivate a person to accomplish a seemingly impossible task.
Here’s a tip! Think about something you want�I mean really want. Either inner desire will motivate you to go for it or fear and doubt will keep you from even trying. Either way you will be motivated. Many people are negatively motivated because they are afraid of what others will think. Honest effort is nothing to be ashamed of or to fear. Unless you let desire overcome fears and doubts, your motivation will be negative and restrictive. Peer pressure; fear of what others may think keeps more people from realizing financial success than probably any other factor. The reason most ordinary people remain ordinary is because it’s easier to go along with the crowd than to do things that ultimately create extraordinary success.
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